ENACTMENT NO. 7 OF 1983 ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW (NEGERI SEMBILAN) ENACTMENT 1983
PART I - PRELIMINARY
Section 2. Interpretation.
(1) In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Administration Law" means the Administration of Muslim Law Enactment 1960 [15/60];
"anak dara" means a female who has never had sexual intercourse, whether she is married or unmarried;
"appointed date" means the date appointed under section 1 (2) for the coming into operation of this Enactment;
"Chief Registrar" means a Chief Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces and Ruju' appointed under section 28;
"Court" means a Court of a Kathi or a Court of the Kathi Besar, as the case may be, constituted under section 40 of the Administration Law;
"darar syar'i" means harm, according to what is normally recognised by Hukum Syara', affecting a wife in respect of religion, life, body, mind or property;
"fasakh" means the annulment of a marriage by reason of any circumstance permitted by Hukum Syara' in accordance with section 52;
"fosterage" means the suckling of a baby up to sufficiency by a woman who is not its natural mother for at least five times during the first two years of its life;
"harta sepencarian" means property jointly acquired by husband and wife during the subsistence of their marriage in accordance with the conditions stipulated by Hukum Syara';
"Hukum Syara" means the hukum followed by the mazhab Syafie, Hanafi, Maliki and Hambali under section 38 of the Administration Law;
"illegitimate" in relation to a child means born out of wedlock but not as a result of syubhah intercourse;
"janda" means a woman who has been married and divorced after consummation;
"kariah" in relation to a mosque, means the area, the boundaries of which are determined under section 109 of the Administration Law, in which the mosque is situated;
"Kitabiyah" means
(a) a woman whose ancestors were from the Bani Ya'qub, or
(b) a Christian woman whose ancestors were Christians before the prophet-hood of the Prophet Muhammad, or
(c) a Jewess whose ancestors were Jews before the prophethood of the Prophet 'Isa;
"Majlis" means the Council of Muslim Religion, Negeri Sembilan, established under section 4 of the Administration Law;
"mas kahwin" means the obligatory marriage payment due under Hukum Syara' by the husband to the wife at the time the marriage is solemnized, whether in the form of money actually paid or acknowledged as a debt with or without security, or in the form of things that, according to Hukum Syara', is capable of being valued in terms of money;
"mut'ah" means a consolatory payment which is made in accordance with Hukum Syara' to a wife who has been divorced;
"nasab" means descent based on lawful blood relationship;
"Registrar" means a Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces and Ruju' appointed under section 28, and includes a Deputy Registrar and an Assistant Registrar;
"resident" means permanently or ordinarily living in a particular area;
"ruju" means a return to the original married state;
"Syar'iah Judge" means a Kathi appointed under section 39 of the Administration Law, and includes the Kathi Besar;
"syubhah intercourse" means intercourse performed on erroneous impression that the marriage was valid whereas in actual fact the marriage was invalid (fasid);
"ta'liq" means a promise expressed by the husband after solemnization of marriage in accordance with Hukum Syara' and the provisions of this Enactment;
"thayyib" means a woman who has had sexual intercourse;
"wali Raja" means a waliauthorised by His Highness and the Ruling Chiefs of Negeri Sembilan for their repective Luak, to give away in marriage a woman who has no wali from nasab;
"widow" means a woman whose husband has died;
"widower" means a man whose wife has died.
(2) All words and expressions and expressions used in this Enactment and not herein defined but defined in the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance, 1984 [Ord. 7 of 1948], shall have the meanings thereby assigned to them respectively to the extent that such meanings do not conflict with Hukum Syara'.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt as to the indentity or interpretation of the words and expressions used in this Enactment that are listed in the Schedule, reference may be made to the Arabic script form for those words and expressions shown against them therein.
(4) The Yang di-Pertuan Besar may from time to time amend, delete from or add to the Schedule.
(5) If any doubt or difficulty arises in the interpretation of any word or expression relating to Hukum Syara', it shall be at the discretion of the Court trying the case to give a meaning to such word or expression.